A wet cold front will cross the North Country today with widespread showers and periods of rainfall, according to the National Weather Service forecast for the region.

The front is causing temperatures to be in the 50s in some areas and still in the 70s in other areas.

Behind this front much cooler weather arrives for Friday into the upcoming weekend.

The movement of the system is brining higher probabilities of precipitation and more rain expected toward the Adirondacks than at the St. Lawrence River, forecasters say.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the 40s tonight, and rising perhaps to around 50 on Friday, dipping into them 30s Friday night and rising again into the 40s on Saturday under cloudy skies.

Winds are expected to be between eight and 15 mph from the southwest to west through Friday.

The outlook for the weekend is for partly sunny skies Saturday and Sunday.

The NWS forecast for the St. Lawrence River and northwestern Adirondacks:

Today: A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 71. Light south wind becoming southwest 8 to 13 mph in the morning. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and half of an inch possible.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. West wind around 11 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 50. West wind 11 to 14 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Southwest wind around 7 mph.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 48. Light west wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 52. Southwest wind 5 to 11 mph.

Sunday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. Southwest wind 8 to 10 mph.

Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. West wind 8 to 10 mph.

Monday Night: A chance of rain showers before 4am, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Northwest wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 47. West wind 6 to 8 mph.

Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. South wind 5 to 7 mph.

Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Southwest wind 9 to 13 mph.